Caltagirone

A city in colour

In Caltagirone, traditional pottery production is linked to a thousand-year-old history dating back to ancient times.
According to the Italian archaeologist Paolo Orsi the production of maiolica preceded the arrival of the Arabs, but we know for sure that their arrival in the 9th century increased production, thanks to the introduction of a new technique – glazing – which made the pottery waterproof and more resistant.
A few centuries later, during the Spanish rule of Alfonso of Aragon, pottery trade had greatly developed and allowed artisans to sell their ceramics all over the island.
Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1693 interrupted the potters’ activity and destroyed many of the floors made with the maiolica of Caltagirone.
Today some of the fragments are preserved in the Museum of Ceramics.
foto facciata museo  dei vasi fuori il museo
After the earthquake, decorative motifs were replaced in order to make trade flourish again. In the 19th century, however, with the introduction of cement, the production of maiolica stopped.
The potters’ centuries-old activity ended when the last master potters disappeared in the 1930s.
In 1918 Don Luigi Sturzo founded the Istituto d’Arte della Ceramica (Institute of Ceramic Art) and saved a tradition that seemed destined to be lost. In 1965 the Museum of Ceramics was inaugurated, a safe place that preserved and protected a priceless cultural heritage.
foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Maiolica of the staircase

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Two illustrious patron saints

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A hall for the feasts

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From International Gothic to present day

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

Prominent façade

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

Feast days

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

Searching for colour

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

New roads for Catania

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

The two churches

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Burgos crucifix

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A majestic and luminous church

A feast only for Scicli

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

The city of museums

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The interior and its masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

One city, two sites

The church of Carmine

The disastrous earthquake

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

One city, three sites

Some prestigious works

A talking palace

Norman apses

A square as the heart of the city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

An eagle-shaped city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

A new site for a new church

A city in colour

A new site for a new city

A colourful floor

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

The Staircase of Angels

A miniature city

A half-Baroque church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A museum to save a tradition

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Wonderful quick decorations

A prominent church

The chocolate of Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A long reconstruction

A triumph of colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The theatre of taste